Research at ASC2012

27 February 2012to29 February 2012

Science communication is an active field of research and some of the latest results will be presented at ASC2012.

Among many others there will be a paper discussing strategies to close the gap between target audience and actual audience, while another one explores the way Twitter can be used to gauge people’s interest in science.

With the rise of social media and blogs as communication tools, science communication has become more interactive than ever. Often blog posts spark heated discussions, held through comments to the original post – content, which the author of the blog has no control over. How these comments can impact the message of blog posts is the topic of yet another research project presented at ASC2012.

Have you ever though of postage stamps as a means to communicate science? Well, millions of these small but obvious ‘message boards’ are distributed across the world every day. It will be interesting to learn how this form of media is used to represent science in countries differing in their political, historical and cultural background.

Being the intermediate between scientists, the general public and policy makers, science communicators bear the burden of responsibility to provide accurate and reliable information. In cases of controversial topics this can be quite difficult but delegates can learn from a highly successful campaign, informing about synthetic cannabinoids.

Finally, who doesn’t love a real hero? It is for this reason that ‘science heroes’ inspire the masses and play an important role in raising the public acceptance of science. What we can learn from these heroes and if their inspiration can be copied by others are among the questions explored in a paper presented on the final day of the conference.

In five sessions a total of nearly 30 papers will be presented across all three days of the conference. Refer to the program pages to find out about the session contents.

ASC2012
Getting science where it’s needed

Sydney Masonic Centre
27 to 29 February

Concurrent Session 1B: Research and Papers
Concurrent Session 3B: Research and Papers
Concurrent Session 4B: Research and Papers
Concurrent Session 5B: Research and Papers
Concurrent Session 6B: Research and Papers


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About Achim Eberhart

Achim Eberhart holds a degree in Biology from the University of Tübingen, Germany and a PhD in Zoology from The University of Melbourne. He has always been enthusiastic about communicating science to a general audience and currently works as a freelance science writer.

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